


i close my eyes and picture the emerald sea

by timefornothing



Series: i kneel before the green light [1]
Category: Power Rangers, Power Rangers (2017)
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M, ill add relationships if something happens idk, it's just about what i want to see in a green ranger that's it, snapshots if you will, so self indulgent, this is just a collection of headcanons and one shots about the green ranger, this is mostly vent writing, tomi is a demigirl and i'll fight anyone who says otherwise, trimberly and cranscott are mostly background
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-28
Updated: 2017-04-28
Packaged: 2018-10-25 02:25:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10754796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/timefornothing/pseuds/timefornothing
Summary: i've got a lot of feelings and headcanons about the new tomi (tommy) oliver and this is where they're going





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> _and i turned to raise my eyes to the sea_   
>  _and the sea looked back at me_   
>  _i asked for safe passage, for permission to venture_   
>  _i asked for its blessing_   
>  _the sea watched me_   
>  _ageless and endless and ever changing_
> 
>  
> 
> _and the sea found that it liked me_

"Holy crap, holy _shit no way--"_

"Where did they find that thing?!"

"There's no way, there's no way--"

The green ranger is standing in front of them, and Jason feels his heart stop in his chest.

Over the connection in the helmets, he can feel his team freaking out behind him, all of them asking themselves--asking _him_ \--how this is possible. He's the leader, he needs to answer them, he needs to find _some_ sort of explanation.

"They must have found the coin," Jason tells them, and Billy's the one who snaps back.

"Okay, but how did they morph."

"Billy's right," Kim hisses, mind already whirling so hard that he can practically hear it. The pink ranger is practically bouncing on her toes just to his left, hands clenching and unclenching. "It took us almost two weeks to learn how to morph, how come they can right off the get go?"

"Are we sure it's not another Rita?" Trini asks deathly quiet, and everyone stills, trying not to look at Billy. Some wounds are still too fresh to talk about, and Jason in particular can't even think about it without choking up.

"We should take them to Zordon," Jason decides, glancing at Zack. "Give me a second to talk to them, and then we'll let him and Alpha decide what to do."

His team nods, and he comes up from his crouch, revealing their position. The green ranger visibly startles, nearly jumping in the air before they put their fists up. Their form isn't bad, Jason notes, but it's definitely untrained. So they're not dealing with someone who knows how to handle themselves. Bitterly, he think it's unfair that they had to go through all of this alone and now this new person gets help. He pushes that thought away. It's no use now. Besides, if they're going to be on his team, he can't harbor ill thoughts towards them already.

"Who are you?" They call out first, settling further into their stance, and Jason holds his hands up placatingly.

"I could ask you the same thing. I thought we were the only ones in these parts."

God, he sounds like such a dork. Kim's definitely going to tease him for that later, and he thinks he can already hear Zach snorting.

He sees the green ranger pause, and their fists lower minutely. Good, progress. "I...yeah. You were the ones who fought that big gold thing, about a month ago."

"We were." Jason nods, hands still up. He's trying to look as nonthreatening as possible while he assesses the situation. The voice sounds vaguely female, but he really can't be sure. Even their armor is vague. Where Trini and Kim's at least follows the slant of their hips, chest plates alluding to the fact that they're female, this one's seems to be perfectly in the middle. He doesn't know what to make of that, other than the fact that those legs look like they could dish out one hell of a kick.

He pulls his gaze away. "Where'd you get that armor?"

For the first time, they falter. Jason's immediately on guard. Since that ranger landed out of the sky and helped smash the last of the putties, they'd been low ready to fight, even when they were being surprised by him. Now, their hands shake a bit, and they sound confused.

"I'm not sure?" The sentence has a bit of a question to it, and he sees the way their helmet angles as if they're looking down at their arms. "I just...I found a coin, a few days ago. Today, when I was walking home from school, and I saw the attack...I just transformed. It came out of nowhere." They looked back up, directly at him. "It's starting to tingle, though. Please tell me that's not going to kill me."

Jason knows the feeling, and his own armor has been giving him the exact same feeling for the past couple of minutes. It means the fight is over, that the armor is going to wear off soon. He needs to get them back to Zordon before they're revealed in front of everyone. This part of town is far from the school, as well. They're nearly at the trailer park where Zack lives. He doesn't know if he remembers anyone they go to school with that lives out here other than him.

"It's not going to kill you," he tells them with a smirk. "But it does mean it's going to wear off soon. And I know it's new and probably kind of crazy right now, but we can't have it come off in front of all these people. You're going to have to come with me."

In an instant, their defenses shoot back up, and even though their fists aren't raised, Jason can see the green ranger clenching their hands from here. "Come where?"

"It's…" He trails off, and in his helmet, he hears Zach stage whisper eagerly, "Tell them it's the Batcave."

"It is a cave, but I don't think any bats could get past the water," Billy comments, and Trini snorts.

"It's kind of a secret hide out?" He tells them instead, and Zach groans while Kim giggles. "It's where we go to train and to change. Our identities need to be kept secret, and that includes you, now, too."

"How do I know I can trust you?"

The question takes him aback. It's reasonable, he supposes, but it still surprises him. They're all rangers, aren't they? Although, that probably doesn't mean a whole lot to them right now.

"Because I was scared like you."

The green ranger cocks their head, and Jason clears his throat before explaining, his team silent in his ears.

"I was terrified when I first got these...these powers. I broke my bathroom sink before I learned how to control them. It was scary, learning that I had to master these powers in just a few days before we fought Goldar. And if you're feeling anything close to what I felt back then, I want you to know that we're here. We can help and answer any questions you have."

_We didn't have anyone. We got thrown into this with not much more than a sentient wall screaming at us to get better, to be better._

We're better than him.

Slowly, the green ranger relaxes. "...I kicked a door in half when I tripped," they admit, and Jason smiles, even though they can't see it.

"Come with us, and we'll help you make sure it doesn't happen again."

There's a tense moment when he's still not sure if they'll say yes or not, but then the new ranger nods slowly. "Sure, why not? I'm not doing anything today." They shrug again, then take one leap and end up directly in front of Jason. They're not as short as Trini, but also not as tall as himself. They're somewhere in the middle, built solidly, and even up close, he still can't tell much more. "My backpack's over there, gimme a sec." They jump away again, and Jason watches them for a second before turning and walking over to his own team.

"Well?" Kim asks as she stands, as if she hadn't heard the entire conversation. The rest of them look expectantly at him as well, and he shrugs a bit, smiling.

"Looks like we have ourselves another ranger."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _the sea it rocks and changes_   
>  _with mindblowing fury_   
>  _both a foul temptress and the sweetest of lovers_   
>  _the sea calls out to me_
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> _and i, and i, call back to the sea_

They go in through the Zord entrance. Jason thought the weird water gravity would be a bit much to subject them to right off the bat, especially with how many questions Zack was holding back. It looked like it was physically paining him, the way he'd huff out a breath and then clamp his mouth shut, bouncing from foot to foot. They stayed silent the whole way back, mostly watching everyone. They looked in awe at the other zords, and Trini pointed out that another tunnel had appeared. None of them had been down here in a few days, so it could have happened at any point since this ranger found their coin. They made it up onto the ship with relatively little trouble, and Jason could hear Alpha talking with Zordon down in the main room with the morphing pads.

"Since when are there six pads?" Billy burst out as soon as they got in the room, making the small robot jump and spin around. They and Zordon are speechless, and finally, the robot squeaks, "You found the green ranger?!"

Said ranger waves. "Hello, tiny robot and big wall face."

Zack absolutely cackles, and Kim and Trini have to try and smother their giggles, but fail miserably. Jason holds a hand out, hoping none of them can hear his smile as he introduces, "They were out in the field today. They helped with the putty attack."

"Well it's fantastic to meet you!" Instantly, Alpha 5 is in team mom mode, running forward to introduce themselves. "Welcome to home base! This is where you'll be training when you're not doing the weird high school thing with these other rangers." They pumps their hand forcefully, and the green ranger pulls it back with a slight wince once Alpha lets go. "What's your name?"

At once, all the other rangers turn, and the green one looks around wildly before settling on Jason. "What, so our identities have to stay a secret, but not from each other?"

"Why would you hide your identity from your team?" Alpha interrupts. "You're all rangers, you all need to be on the same page in order to morph--"

"What he _means_ is, we all know who each other are." Jason holds back a sigh. "We're all in this together. It helps knowing who you can talk to out of uniform." 

They snort, holding out a hand mockingly. "You show me yours, red, I'll show you mine."

"Dibs," Zack hisses, and Trini punches him on the arm.

Jason shrugs, holding his arms out on either side. "Fair enough." Taking the armor off has always been easier, anyways. Billy was still one of the only ones who could morph with ease. With a deep breath, he closed his eyes, and felt the armor melting away, leaving him in his old red t-shirt and muddy jeans from sparring earlier.

The green ranger's voice cracks as they shout, "Holy crap, _Jason Scott?"_

"Oh, so they know him, what a surprise," Trini deadpans, making Kim giggle before she steps forward.

"Wait till you see this," she tells them, and in another second, her armor is gone, and the newcomer lets out a wild laugh.

"Don't tell me the football and cheerleading captains are the one saving the town. That'd just be too good if the entire upper social circle of the high school was here."

"Oh man, not even close," Trini laughs brightly, ignoring Kim's half-scowl. She fist bumps with Zack before her own armor falls away, his not far behind. The green ranger looks between them, then shrugs.

"Yeah, I dunno you two."

"Figures," Zack snorts, then gives a mock bow. "Zack Taylor, at your service, good ranger."

Trini rolls her eyes. "Trini."

"I'm Billy Cranston." He comes forward with his hand out, armor somehow already gone. "Jason told me I'm not allowed to say the rest of it anymore because it isn't true but I could still tell you anyways if you want to hear it."

The ranger shakes his hand with an awkward laugh. "Believe it or not, I've actually heard it before. Thanks, though."

"Oh, you're welcome." Billy beams, then takes a step back. "I think it's your turn."

The green ranger looks back and forth between Jason and Kim, then sighs. "This is gonna be good." Holding their arms out awkwardly, the boots are the first thing to disappear. Then one finger at a time of the glove portion. Then one leg plate.

"Why does it come away in pieces like that?" Billy asked, and Alpha shrugs.

"Different rangers have different problems. Maybe theirs is that they hate themselves so much that it's hard to take off the mask."

Kim's mouth drops open, and Trini actually kicks at him. Alpha lets out a metallic squeal, "What? I was answering his question!"

"He's not far off," the green ranger tells them, drawing the group's attention back to them. With a heavy sigh, the rest of the armor peels away, the mask the last to go. Shoulder length hair falls forward, blonder at the ends with dark roots. Overall, Jason's first assessment isn't that far off. They're solidly built, legs obviously curvy and athletic, along with the rest of them, which makes sense one his eyes connect with the bright green ones staring back at him.

"Oh, no way," Kim whispers, not for the first time that day, and Jason feels his own eyes widen.

"Nice to see you guys outside of the gym during pep rallies," Tomi Oliver tells them, familiar smirk lighting up their face. Tomi was the star member of the school's girl's soccer team, an aggressive player on all counts, which eventually led to her being benched after fighting with a referee. Unlike most of the other athletes at the school, she wasn't very popular, more infamous. She was constantly in trouble with teachers even though most of them couldn't prove she did it, she was an ex-all american athlete, and most importantly, she was the only girl kissed during a game of spin the bottle by Kimberly Hart.

Jason's eyes immediately looked to Kim's face. He doubted she could ever forget Maggie's party in eighth grade. People still brought it up all the time, especially during her 'fall from grace' as some of the other students put it. From her expression, she was definitely remembering it.

"So...who is that?" Trini asked, eyes narrowing.

Zach snorted. "Dude, even I know her. That's Tomi Oliver. She's in our grade."

"Oh, so you all go to school together, perfect!" Alpha put his hands together. "Fantastic!"

Tomi smirked at Kim, who blushed and looked away, and Trini's eyes narrowed further as Tomi laughed. "Oh, man, this is going to be fun."

**\- - - - - -**

  
Tomi's personality exploded as soon as they started training. She was crass, sarcastic, made comments into the empty silence when things got tense, and kept everyone laughing. She was an intense fighter, and a good sounding board for just about everything, and could morph faster than anyone on the team.

But it took her twice as long to take her armor off.

After a week, Jason stopped questioning the bitter look on her face every time she had to take it off.  


**\- - - - - -**

"You're telling me you've _never_ listened to ABBA?" Tomi huffed, hands on her knees. Billy's hands were on top of his head, and he was breathing hard as well as he shook his head.

"I'm not totally sure I know the band or person you're referring to."

"Dancing Queen?" Tomi questions, and Billy shakes his head. "Man, I've gotta put some music on my phone or something. You'd love them."

"I mean, it'd probably take me a while to love them, but if you really like them, I'm sure I'd be interested."

Tomi laughed and stood back up, picking up the fighting staff. "Billy, you're a blast, have I ever told you that?"

He gave her a look. "Uh, no, I don't believe you've said that, no."

She grinned. "Let's go again."

 

**\- - - - - -**

"You two get down from there!"

Only Zack's wild cackle echoed down from on top of the water tower, immediately followed by a wild _whoop_ of Tomi's.

Trini sighed, hands on her hips. "Those two are going to be the death of me."

 

**\- - - - - -**

"Do you hate me for it?"

Kim almost laughed, and couldn't quite stop the snort that did escape. Beside her on the ground, Tomi turned to look at her, green eyes questioning. "What? It's a valid question!"

"Do I hate you for kissing me?" Kim clarified, and Tomi nodded, still frowning. Kim smirked, looking back up at the stars. Everyone else was long asleep, even Trini, curled up only a few feet away. Without any real immediate threat, their friendship was given the chance to grow naturally, and she felt closer to these five people than she had ever felt to anyone before.

"No, I don't. If anything, it helped sort some stuff out for me back then."

Tomi's eyes widened, and then she laughed as well, slapping a hand over her mouth to keep quiet. Kim grinned alongside her.

"Your tastes are a bit yellow nowadays anyways, amirite?"

Kim blushed immediately, and Tomi laughed once more into the night.

 

**\- - - - - -**

 

Tomi turned away from watching Kim check out Trini's forehead where she had hit her with the staff. It was a small cut, but nothing that wouldn't heal quickly with their powers. She looked at the boys and asked, "So how long have those two been making out?"

Jason spit out his water, immediately going into a coughing fit while Zack laughed so hard he fell off of the rock. Billy, confused and patting Jason's back awkwardly, asked, "Trini and Kimberly are making out?"

"No, no, they aren't," Jason sputtered, and Tomi smirked at him.

"Well, they're definitely thinking about it, not quite unlike a certain red ranger I know. Do you love the color of the sky?"

Zack rolled away on the ground, laugh echoing around the pit loud enough to draw the other girls' attention. Jason was blushing a red as deep as his suit, and Billy paused in his patting.

"What does the sky have to do with anything?"

**\- - - - - -**

  
"You need to figure it out soon," Zordon told her, and Tomi turned away from him, throwing her hands in the air.

"I don't see why it's such a big deal!" she protested. "I can morph faster than anyone, isn't that what you want?"

"It's not the morphing I'm worried about," he told her quietly, and her eyes reflected the light of the morphing grid in front of her. All was still, save for a few streaks of yellow dancing around the pink, and the odd purple at the bottom, but the green swirl was a mess of dark, ruddy colors. Not the colors of a healthy morph. "Without stability, you won't be able to communicate as well with your teammates. You won't bond properly with your Zord. Your special weapon may never come."

Tomi thought bitterly about Trini's daggers, about Jason's sword. "I'm doing my best."

Zordon's sigh was heavy and weighted with millenia of knowledge about the green rangers. Something about them was always unstable, always changing. While it was sometimes an advantage, having a ranger who could so easily adapt to using another coin in times of trouble, or one who could use another's weapon as easily as their own, this is why it was bad. Until it was controlled, their energy would warp out and destroy all the hard work their bonds had been creating.

"Sometimes your best isn't enough."  


**\- - - - - -**

"It's not that simple," Tomi huffed, sitting heavily on top of the rock. The lights of the town shimmered below them into the quiet night, and Jason settled quietly next to her.

"It's never simple. Trust me, I get it." He looked down at their legs, boots swinging in time. Things had been tense between them since the mix of red her armor had during training the other day, and the others had all been worried. Trini still didn't trust her for whatever reason, and Zack was...well, he was Zack. Jason knew it didn't mean anything, but he still couldn't help but think about how in sync their movements were. Their fighting styles, their speech patterns, even their handwriting was starting to blend together.

"You don't have to pretend to be someone else to fit in," he told her.

Tomi looked back, green eyes shining with tears. In the same hollow tone she had first used when they met, she admitted, "My parents died when I was 9. I live with my grandma in a shitty apartment on the edge of town. She doesn't...she tries, but she doesn't understand. It's so hard for her. And I thought if I could be like you, so confident, and brave, and so good, I thought maybe she'd love--maybe she'd--"

Jason catches her head when it falls against his shoulder, pulling her into his chest. He knows what it feels like to be a disappointment. He hates that anyone else on his team has to feel that way.

 

**\- - - - - -**

 

"Fine! Fine." Tomi glares at Zack, hands on her hips. "You have an odd way of drawing shit out of people, you know?"

"Thanks!" He beams at her, and she narrows her eyes.

"It's not a compliment."

Zack just waits, and for the first time since he's known her, Tomi hesitates. She wrings her hands in front of her, and somehow, Zack gets the feeling that this is big. This is bigger than getting her to admit his crush on him, bigger than apologizing for using his battle axe the other day. He can tell she's afraid of destroying whatever it is they've built up between them, romantic or otherwise.

"You know you can tell me anything, right?" He prods quietly, and she looks up at him hopefully. "I know I'm kind of an asshole sometimes, but I won't honestly do anything to hurt or judge you. I swear." He offers a smile. "I wouldn't try and hurt the best girl I know, now, would I?"

Tomi bites her lip, and he feels himself swallow down a blush. It'd been so hard to ignore everything lately, but he pushes it aside. Not now.

Finally, she mumbles, "Um, what if...what if I told you I wasn't really a girl?"

Zack's brow furrows, looking down at her. With an exaggerated eye roll, she takes two steps forward until she's in front of him again, forcing him into eye contact.

"Not like that, you idiot. I get it, I'm not blind, I know I look feminine. And there's some days where that's okay. Great, even. But there's others where I...I just don't feel like a girl."

"Oh." Zack can't look away from their eyes. It clicks in his head. Damn, the suit thing makes so much more sense, now. "Oh. Okay. So, should I like--"

"You can still use girl pronouns, I don't care." Tomi blushes quickly, interrupting him. "I mean, like, if you slip up it's whatever, but they works, too, I guess." They look down at their feet, and Zack finally makes himself move, uses one--slightly shaky--hand to grab their chin and bring their face up to look at him once more. After swallowing once more, he manages to speak.

"I was going to say...would you prefer if I call you my girlfriend, or my datemate?"

Tomi's eyes blink in confusion, that same wild incomprehensible look they get every time Zack says something wild, and then they grin wide, wide wide wide, lighting up the entire cave. The water in their hair catches the light, throwing everything Zack sees into sparkles that don't stop moving. He can barely feel his feet.

"Datemate, definitely. Where the hell did you come up with that one?"

**\- - - - - -**

  
Zack takes one look at everyone around him, then throws his head back in despair. "Am I the only straight one here?!"

Tomi looks him up and down, one eyebrow raised. "Hun, I've seen the way you look at Jason's butt. You're not that straight."

 

**\- - - - - -**

 

"I get we're seniors and all now, but this prom is seeming like a way bigger deal than it should be," Tomi hisses to Trini, who immediately snorts.

"Ah, let them have their fun."

They had taken pictures at Jason's house, all with their cover stories intact (thankfully, none of the parents asked why Kim's flowers were the same color as Trini's dress and not Jason's suit), and after dinner, were on their way to the dance.

Zack and Kim were already almost falling over with laughter, and Trini threw an arm around Tomi, thankful their dumb tension had faded away between them. "Are we dating the two biggest dorks in the world, or what?" Tomi laughed back, throwing their arm around her waist.

"Definitely."  


**\- - - - - -**

Tomi grabbed Jason's hand, the slight screech of armor on armor echoing as they pulled him back to his feet. Everything was blowin up around them, and he knew they had only seconds to get to their Zords before it all went to shit.

"I want to thank you," Tomi told him, not letting go of his hand. Jason looked at them in confusion, wishing he could take their mask off so he could try and figure out what on earth that tone of voice meant. "For giving me a chance. I know we were never good friends earlier, and I pulled some shit on you and your friends, but now that I've gotten to know you all…" Tomi shook their head. "I realized how dumb I was to never trust any of you. I shouldn't have taken that out on you guys. I would give my life for any of you, now, and if this is my first and last big fight, I want you to know how grateful I am."

The deep scratch across the helmet caught the light, and he swallowed down his guilt, instead letting his warm feelings of loyalty and love for his fellow ranger roll over him. Jason grabbed their arm tightly, hoping his voice conveyed the emotion he felt. "You don't have to thank me. You were meant to be a ranger, and it's what we do. For what it's worth, any of us would die for you, as well." Tomi nodded, and he smirked. "Now what do you say we take your dragon out for a proper test run and kick some ass?"

He could feel Tomi's grin reflected in his soul, the morphing grid finally bridging any gaps that were left on the team. "Let's do it, red."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lmao this was a mess, i hope yall liked it
> 
> if you wanna yell about the green ranger with me you can find me on tumblr at davetrash (i've got a tag going for me rambling about tomi)


End file.
